Fla. woman meets son she gave up for adoption

A central Florida woman has reunited with her son almost 36 years after giving him up for adoption.

The Associated Press

ORLANDO — A central Florida woman has reunited with her son almost 36 years after giving him up for adoption.

The happy reunion took place Thursday at Orlando International Airport, where Andre "Dre" Knight arrived from Los Angeles on a one-way ticket to meet his mother, Robin West. He said he'll go back home when the time is right.

Knight embraced his mother in the airport's baggage claim area. "I'm speechless," he said. "This is the best day of my life."

West, who lives in Malabar, told Florida Today (http://on.flatoday.com/11hMWZC) she was 15 when her baby was born.

"There is a God, because this is really kind of like a miracle in my life," West said.

They reconnected by phone about a month ago after Knight's girlfriend, Andrea Bennett, found West on the Internet. Knight recalls pulling up West's Facebook page and seeing a photo of someone with eyes like his. He became cautiously excited. Then, he noticed the name listed as West's mother matched the grandmother listed on his birth certificate.

Right away, music became a common link. Knight, a music producer, learned that West is a singer-songwriter and that her father was a pianist and her grandfather played saxophone.

Next, he had to figure out how to contact her. He chose Twitter. At 4 a.m. Florida time on April 28, he sent a tweet, introducing himself as a music producer interested in talking to her.

Hours later she called and left a message that she would call back later.

When she did, he broke the news.

"You know Robin, I've been waiting on you to call for a long, long time," he told her. "My name is Andre Knight and I was born in 1977 in New York City. Robin, I'm your son."

After a brief silence, she said, "My son, my son, you found your mama."

She also has a 15-year-old grandson. Knight said that now he'll be able to answer his son's questions about their heritage.

They talked for hours. His adoptive parents even sent West a photo album for Mother's Day.

Now they plan to move forward.

"As long as we've got time left on this side of the earth, there's always time to make things right," Knight said. "That's where I'm at right now. I'm really at peace."